Quick Take for Wednesday, September 2, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Wins Wednesday in Adults 18-49, Posting its Strongest Results On the Evening in Nearly 3 Months with Viewers and Young Adults

ABC is Up Year to Year on Wednesday for 13 Consecutive Weeks

ABC's "Wipeout" Wins the 8pm Hour in Viewers and Young Adults, Matching NBC's "America's Got Talent" as Wednesday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49

Showing Strong Retention of its Week-Ago Series Debut, "Crash Course" Continues to Substantially Improve its Time Period Year to Year for ABC

"Primetime Crime" Finishes No. 1 at 10pm in Viewers and Key Adults, Drawing the Network's Biggest Audience in the Hour this Summer

Wednesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC won Wednesday night among Adults 18-49 (2.1/6), beating out NBC by 11% (1.9/6), Fox by 17% (1.8/6) and CBS by 50% (1.4/4). ABC was also No. 1 on the evening across all key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).

� Rising sharply week to week in viewers and young adults, ABC generated its strongest Wednesday numbers in nearly 3 months (since 6/10/09) and its second-highest of Summer '09.

� For the 13th consecutive week this summer, ABC grew its Wednesday audience year to year, soaring by 2.2 million viewers (6.2 million vs. 4.0 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 1.4/4) over the year-ago night (9/3/08).

"Wipeout" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

For the 2nd straight week, ABC's "Wipeout" won Wednesday's 8 o'clock hour, beating out its nearest competitors by 7% in Total Viewers (7.6 million vs. 7.1 million � NBC's "Talent Recap Show") and 37% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/9 vs. 1.9/6 � Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" special). It was the 9th consecutive original airing for "Wipeout" to place No. 1 in the hour with Total Viewers, the 5th consecutive in Adults 18-49 and the 10th consecutive across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).

� Despite its earlier time period with lower TV usage levels, "Wipeout" registered as the night's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49, matching NBC's "Talent" in the 9 o'clock hour. It was also the evening's highest-rated television show for the 2nd week in a row in key Men (M18-34/M18-49).

� "Wipeout" retained 100% of its week-ago Viewers and Adults 18-49 and was up week to week across all key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).

"Crash Course" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Showing strong retention of its week-ago series debut numbers, for the 2nd week in a row "Crash Course" boosted ABC's performance in the hour year to year. On average, "Crash Course" is improving its time slot by 1.5 million viewers (4.7 million vs. 3.2 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.3/3), over ABC's averages in the hour on the same nights last summer.

� "Crash Course" exhibited strong retention of its week-earlier series debut in viewers and young adults, holding 94% in Total Viewers (4.5 million vs. 4.8 million), 89% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.9/5) and 94% in Adults 18-34 (1.5/5 vs. 1.6/5).

"Primetime: Crime" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in, ABC News' "Primetime: Crime" finished No. 1 in the 10 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (6.6 million), Adults 18-49 (1.9/6) and Adults 25-54 (2.4/6-tie).

� "Primetime: Crime" drew ABC's biggest audience in the hour this summer, producing the newsmagazine's most-watched non-premiere telecast in its 3 seasons on the air.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 32% currently, from 26% at the same point in 2008. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 9/2/09.